InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Fruition ❯ Soul Searching ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

With a sharp gasp, Charity's eyes flew open, her body contracting in a startled coil, and she struggled to sit up as she shook her head to clear her vision.

"Morning, sleepyhead!"

The voice registered in her fuzzy brain well before her other senses kicked in, and with a groan, she relaxed, flopping back as she rolled onto her stomach to bury her face in the pillow once more.  "Go 'way," she muttered, her voice muffled by the thick down.

Chelsea clucked her tongue.  "Is that any way to greet your twin?" she chided, tugging on Charity's shoulder in an effort to roll her over.

Charity grumbled something entirely unintelligible, much to Chelsea's unabashed amusement.  "Oh, now, since when are you such a grump in the morning?"

Heaving a tumultuous sigh since she knew well enough that there was no stopping Chelsea once she got going, Charity sat up and rubbed her sleep-gritty eyes.  Chelsea laughed and reached out to pull her twin into a tight hug.  "Aww," she crooned, sounding entirely sincere even if Charity knew well enough that she was anything but.  "Late night?"

Charity snorted and shoved at her.  Chelsea didn't let go.  "As a matter of fact, yes.  Yes, it was."

Chelsea went absolutely still at Charity's grouchy response as her arms dropped away, and she sat back on her heels to eye her twin in what could only be described as a devious kind of way.  "Is that so?  Well, do tell . . ."

Charity rubbed her face then slumped back against the padded off-white damask headboard.  "I was at Ben's till . . ." Glancing at the clock, she made a face, even though it was a little later than she usually got up.  'Six in the morning . . .?  Ugh . . .'  She was going to die; she just knew it.  ". . . about five hours ago."

"Ben's . . .?" Chelsea echoed.  She digested that for all of thirty seconds before she unleashed a squeal so high and shrill that Charity's ears flattened against her skull.  "Did you fuck him?  Tell me you fucked him!  Finally!"  She gasped suddenly, planting her hands on the coverlet as she leaned in close.  "Does he have a big dick?  Does he know how to use it?"

The rapid-fire questions were enough to bring a livid flush to the fore as Charity quickly waved her hands to stop her overzealous twin.  "Chelsea!  No, we didn't," she insisted. "It's . . . It's not like that . . ."

Chelsea heaved a sigh as she slowly shook her head.  "Seriously?  See what happens if I leave you to your own devices?  At this rate, you two are never going to get anywhere . . ." Scooting off the bed, Chelsea started pacing the floor, the thin, crinkled cotton long jacket she wore over the simple pants and blouse billowing behind her, drifting like a cloud as she moved.  "I've got it.  I'll take your place and get things moving for you!" she offered, spinning on her heel as the idea took root in her head.

"No, absolutely not," Charity insisted, flipping her legs off the bed and propelling herself off the surface as she stomped toward the bathroom.  "It's not like when we used to trade places so you’d be able to pass the science exams in school.  I'm serious, Chels.  If you do that, I'll never, ever speak to you again."  She leaned out of the doorway to pin her sister with a fulminating glower designed to punctuate her absolute seriousness on the matter.  "Ever!" she added for good measure.

Chelsea heaved a longsuffering sigh.  "All right," she relented.  She didn't sound as if she wanted to comply, though, but Charity also knew that if she gave her word, Chelsea wouldn't break it, either, which was, at least, a small relief.

She slapped the wall panel to start the shower and made quick work of stripping off her pajamas before ensconcing herself in the shower stall to savor the flow of hot water.

"Okay, you weren't getting your groove on with the old panther.  So, tell me why you were there, then," Chelsea asked, raising her sing-song voice to be heard over the rushing water jets.

Letting out a deep breath as she reached for the shampoo bottle, Charity frowned.  To be honest, she really wasn't entirely sure what was going on.  It was easy enough to say that she was just helping him with the twins, but . . . But . . .

"O-O-Oh," Chelsea breathed.  Oh, my . . ."

Charity's frown darkened as Chelsea's words drifted to her.  "What are you doing?" she demanded mildly, wincing as some stray suds dripped into her eye.

"Oh, kami!" she exclaimed, ignoring Charity's question completely.  "Ben has babies?  Those are the cutest babies, ever!"

"Babies?" Charity echoed, shoving the shower door open far enough to peer out of it.  Chelsea was sitting on the closed toilet lid looking at Charity's phone.  "Why are you looking at that?"

"It beeped at me," she explained without taking her eyes off the device.  "He says good morning, by the way.  Says he thought that seeing the girls would be a great way for you to start your day."

Face burning as she closed the sliding door again, Charity bit her lip.

"Now, why does he have—? Aww!"

Hurrying through the rest of her shower, Charity smiled as Chelsea's appreciation of the adorable twins grew.  She'd apparently decided to scroll through the image library on the phone, which was quite all right with her.  It was Charity's decided opinion that those babies should be showed off, all the time.

Stepping out of the shower stall as she tucked the towel edge in between her breasts, Charity held out her hand.  "Hand it over," she demanded mildly.  "I want to see my morning picture."

Chelsea laughed and gave Charity the device.  "So, is Ben really that hot under those stuffy suits he wears?" she asked, a devilish light aglow in her eyes.

Charity grunted and tried to fight back the flush that threatened at the mere memory of Ben in his towel.  Then she sighed as the image that he'd sent opened up—Ben, lying in bed, both girls lying in the crook of his arm, all three staring up at the camera with wide eyes, though Ben was smiling just a little.  She could feel the flush that she'd been fighting as it broke wide, engulfing her features in a blanket of heat as she bit her lip and saved the image to her library before firing off a quick message back to thank him for the picture.

"You know, I used to wonder just why you had that thing for him for years," Chelsea remarked casually.  "Now, I know.  That man is stupid-hot!"

Charity didn't comment on that casual assessment as she towel dried her hair. Stopping long enough to scroll through her images, she found an exceptionally cute one of the girls sleeping and handed the phone back to her sister.  "They're undoubtedly the cutest babies, ever, right?"

Chelsea laughed.  "Of course, they are," she agreed.  "Have you been spending a lot of time over there?"

"Well, two babies are a lot of work for one person," she muttered, squeezing the moisture from her hair with the towel once more.  "Emmeline almost smiled at me yesterday.  I know, they're still less than a week old, but I swear it was a smile."

It took a minute for Chelsea to reply, and when she did, her voice was uncharacteristically soft, gentle.  "You're really attached to them, aren't you?"

Her movements stopped for a painful second, and Charity bit her lip.  She wasn't sure why Chelsea's question had startled her, but for some reason that she didn't want to dwell upon, she wasn't sure if she really ought to answer her, either.  "How long are you here for?" she asked instead, hoping that Chelsea didn't notice the abrupt change in topic or that she'd at least just let it go.

Chelsea sighed.  "Not long, unfortunately.  It's just that . . . I don't know.  I got this weird feeling yesterday that you were upset, that I needed to come see you . . ." She shrugged simply.  "So, I booked a flight."

For some reason, Chelsea's candid statement was enough to bring on the sting of tears that she stubbornly held back.

But it was true, she supposed.  As upset as she'd been after discovering Ben during his lunch meeting with the Douglasses, it shouldn't have surprised Charity that Chelsea would sense it and hop the first plane back.  It had always been that way.  They couldn't read each other's thoughts, no, but the invisible bond between the two of them had always been there, and there had been instances for the both of them when they'd just sensed the other's inner turmoil, if the emotion was strong enough, anyway . . .

"So, what was wrong yesterday?" Chelsea asked in a nonchalant tone.  Too bad Charity knew better.

She made a face as she slipped the hair towel over the drying rack affixed to the wall and took her time, straightening it out.  There really wasn't any way to avoid it, was there?  And even if she could . . .

"The twins' father challenged Cain-oji-san," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, "and his mate ended up in labor when she found out about her mate's loss.  She asked oji-san to find a family for them, so he brought them back.  Ben offered to keep them while they . . . While they find a family for them . . ."

"Wait, so Ben's not keeping them?"

Charity sighed, unable to keep the hint of irritation out of her tone.  "No, he's . . . He's not . . ."

"Why not?"

Grimacing at her sister's overly-sharp tone, Charity shook her head.  "Because he says the girls need to have a family that has two parents—stability and all that—and he's busy a lot.  I mean, he's one of oji-san's generals, and you know as well as I do that he tends to travel a lot, and when he's not doing that, he still handles oji-san's art, and—"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, you're going to defend him.  He's Ben, and you lo-o-o-ove him; I get that," Chelsea said, waving a hand to shut up her twin.  "I mean, okay, so he's not mated, he's a busy guy—whatever!  Why take them in if he's only going to give them away?"

Charity didn't respond to that, simply because, at the heart of it all, she agreed entirely.

Chelsea must have realized that she'd made her point, because she heaved a sigh and shook her head.  "Anyway, why don't you take the day off, and don't tell me you can't because you never, ever do . . . We'll go shopping, maybe get a massage, go out to eat at somewhere ridiculously decadent, and then you can introduce me to those precious babies!"

Biting her lip as she slipped on her bra and panties, Charity started to decline but stopped.  After all, it had been almost six months since she'd gotten to spend any time at all with her twin, and, to be honest, maybe, just maybe, she could use the break . . .


The door of the huge and impressive townhouse opened as Ben Philips blinked in surprise and stepped back.  "Charity . . . Chelsea.  I didn't realize you were in town," he greeted, stepping forward to welcome the young women to his home.

Chelsea stopped him with the back of her hand in the center of his chest to move him aside.  "Out of my way, Ben Philips.  Where are those babies, anyway?"

He chuckled.  "The babies," he repeated, as though he should have figured as much.  He grasped Charity's hand and bent down to kiss her cheek.  "You look lovely today," he commented.

Charity glanced down at the jeans and light blouse that she’d chosen—nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, and she shook her head despite the smile on her face.  “Thanks,” she said, ignoring the idea that he’d sounded entirely sincere in his compliment.

"Stuff your sweet talk, too—at least till I see those girls," Chelsea insisted, crossing her arms over her chest, tapping her foot impatiently.

Charity rolled her eyes, but smiled at Ben.

"They're in the living room, and I just got them to sleep, so . . ." Trailing off, he heaved a sigh as he caught Charity's eye and slowly shook his head despite the grin that threatened at the corners of his lips.  That was all Chelsea waited to hear, and when Ben and Charity followed her into the living room, it was to find Chelsea with a slightly fussing Nadia in her arms.

"What a gorgeous little lady!" she crooned, holding Nadia up at eye level to get a good look at her.  "Just darling!"  She sat on the sofa and cuddled the child close before turning her gaze back on Ben once more, rolling a hand in a decidedly impatient kind of gesture.  "Okay.  Now you may commence with the superfluous flattery."

He chuckled as Charity carefully scooped up Emmeline, who didn't stir at all and just uttered a happy little sigh.

"Chelsea, you look as troublesome as ever," Ben remarked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's nice of you to say," she remarked with a wink since she was wearing one of the borderline-risqué dresses she'd bought at Hot 10, a boutique that Charity would normally never be caught dead in.  A black micro-mini that was nothing more than a very tiny tube of lycra with the barest hint of satin thrown in for good measure and a fairly opaque black blouse that didn't do much to cover the miniscule black lace bra she wore underneath.  Add to that a leopard print scarf slung around her neck and four-inch patent leather stilettos that were held onto her ankles by little more than a configuration of straps and strings, and, well, 'trouble' seemed like a bit of an understatement, especially when Charity had opted to wear something entirely pragmatic and even boring.  "You look like your regular, stuffy old self."

"Chelsea," Charity hissed, hoping that Ben wouldn't hear her but knowing that he couldn't possibly miss it.

"Sorry," he said, sounding anything but sorry, all things considered.  "I was actually just getting ready to step out for a bit."

"With the babies?" Charity asked.  "I don't think that's a good idea.  There's a smog warning in effect today.  The Air Quality Index is at almost ninety."

Ben shrugged and offered her an indulgent little grin.  "Actually, I was going to leave them with Eddie . . . Unless you want to keep an eye on them?"

Her smile was immediate.  "I can do that," she decided.  "Will you be gone long?"

Ben's smile dimmed.  "Uh, no," he said.  "I was just going to run past special crimes to pick up the background reports on the Douglasses."

"Douglasses?" Chelsea repeated with a raised eyebrow.  "Who are they?"

Charity shifted uncomfortably then bobbed her shoulders in a calculated show of nonchalance that didn't fool Chelsea, even for a second.  "They're the couple who wants to . . . to adopt the girls."

Narrowing her eyes on Ben, Chelsea sucked in a cheek as she considered Charity's words.  "And just what do you know about them?" she finally asked, leveling a no-nonsense look at the youkai general.

"He's a police officer, and she teaches preschool," Ben replied.

Chelsea wrinkled her nose, completely nonplussed by Ben's statement.  Absently noting just how quiet Charity had become, she grimaced inwardly when she sensed her twin's underlying turmoil that directly stemmed from the topic at hand.  "And how do you know that they're not secretly involved with some weird and twisted cult that eats babies during their satanic rituals?"

Ben barked out a laugh before he managed to tamp down his apparent amusement at Chelsea's dire—and ridiculous—scenario.  "I'm sure that it'l show up somewhere in the background check I ordered if that is, in fact, a possibility," he remarked dryly despite the heightened brilliance behind his green eyes.

"You realize that either one of them could potentially be a serial killer," Chelsea went on stubbornly.  "All it takes is one psychotic break, and it could happen."

"I seriously doubt that would."  Ben checked his watch and grimaced.  "If you're okay with watching them, Charity, I won't be long.  If you had other plans, just tell Eddie."

Charity fluttered a hand to indicate that she'd heard him.  He started to turn, but must have thought better of it, and he altered his path to kiss both of the babies on the head, letting his hand linger on each of them before he finally straightened up.  Then he did the same to Charity as Chelsea's mouth fell open in surprise.

He strode away, but stopped in the archway to turn back as he grabbed his jacket off a nearby chair and shrugged it on.  "If you ladies don't have other plans, I'd be happy to take you out to dinner."

"That'd be great," Charity said, her cheeks dusted with pink as she smiled at the man.

"I shouldn't be long," he said as he turned to go again.  "Let Eddie know if you need anything at all."

Charity sighed softly—a happy sound that Chelsea wondered if her sister even realized she'd uttered.  Charity had always been as transparent as a window.  It was a trait that Chelsea both envied and hated.  On the one hand, it was Charity's gift, the way she was able to connect with people simply because of the emotion that she didn't try to hide.  On the other?  It had also gotten Charity hurt a number of times over the years, and Chelsea knew that, too.  The thing was, Charity herself . . . Well, she'd never actually realized just how easy it was to see right through her, either . . .

'That's . . . Interesting, wouldn't you say?'

'Very . . . It's almost like they're one of those cute little couples that have been together forever,' Chelsea's youkai-voice mused.

'Hmm . . . Dinner with the two of them, huh?  Should be interesting . . .'

Her youkai chuckled.  'Oh, absolutely . . . Absolutely . . .'


"You haven't said much about the background check," Charity commented in a carefully contrived tone that was neither contentious nor completely apathetic as she kept her gaze trained on the food before her.  Only the hint of color that rode high in her cheeks gave her away, at least, to Chelsea's discerning gaze, anyway.  She had no idea if Ben noticed or not, but given the overlying dusky quality of the lighting inside the historic restaurant the man had chosen, she rather figured that he couldn't tell.

Ben paused before taking the bite that he held in front of his mouth.  "It's fine," he said, his tone sounding overly bright to Chelsea's ears.  "Not even a speeding ticket on file for either one of them in over ten years."

"Which wouldn't be that hard to get off their records, given that he's a cop," Chelsea muttered, more to herself than to her dinner companions.

"I suppose," Ben ventured.  "Even if they did, it’s not really that big a deal."  He sighed and set his fork against the edge of his plate.  "They're . . . They're perfect, at least, on paper."

"Nobody's perfect," Chelsea insisted, reaching for her glass of wine.

"As true as that may be, you can't really expect anyone to be able to meet that level of expectation, can you?" Ben countered mildly.

"Can't you?" Chelsea argued, raising an eyebrow as she pinned the panther with a probing stare.  "You're talking about the lives of two very tiny babies.  This isn't like trying to decide if they'd make good owners for your puppy or your kitten, Ben."

"You think I don't know that, Miss Inutaisho?" he shot back, eyes taking on an independent glow that was all the starker in contrast to the controlled, almost bored, tone in his voice.  "I'm well aware of what hangs in the balance."

"Are you?' she went on in a pleasant enough tone.  She could feel Charity, stiffening beside her as her youki pulled in tightly around her.  She'd always hated confrontation, but at the moment, Chelsea didn't care.  She’d spent the afternoon, watching her twin’s reactions, seeing all those things that Charity never said, and she knew, didn’t she?  She knew, and she understood—even if Charity herself didn’t, not yet.  "Isn't it your job to look out for those babies?  I mean, to take care of those who cannot do it for themselves?  Those twins—"

"—Are really none of your concern," he cut in.  Then he sighed, taking a moment to get his own feelings under control.  "I promise you, if the Douglasses are less than upstanding, I won't let them near the babies, but so far, there is no reason at all not to recommend their request as long as the home visit goes well, too."

"But you're missing the whole point, Ben," she gritted out, struggling to hold onto her calm and failing miserably.

"Then what is your point?" he challenged, his youki whipping around, flailing with his own rising irritation.

"I'm going . . . I'm going to the bathroom," Charity suddenly said, her chair making an obscenely loud sound as it scraped against the polished floor in her haste to stand up.  Grabbing her purse while Ben shot to his feet, she waved a hand, as though to tell him to sit back down again, and she hurried away from the table.

Counting to twenty for good measure—waiting until her twin was well out of earshot, Chelsea leaned across the table, pinning Ben with what could only be described as a 'Don't-Be-Stupid' kind of glare.  "The point, Ben Philips, is that you're giving away her babies!" she hissed.

Leaning back as he dropped into his chair, as though she'd reached out and struck him, he looked dumbfounded, absolutely shell-shocked.  "Wh . . . What?"

Rolling her eyes as she wondered if she'd been morbidly mistaken as to exactly how old Ben really was, she stifled the urge to sigh.  She couldn't figure out for the life of her how someone as old as Ben could be as clueless as he seemed to be, too.  It had become ridiculously apparent to her in just a morning spent, shopping with Charity, just how attached she was to those girls already, and all in the course of a handful of days.  How often did she have to drag Charity away from this display or that rack of baby clothing as she babbled on about the girls and the things that they'd done that had amused her or things that had ultimately comprised normal, everyday, entirely mundane sort of things?  It was as if Chelsea had already met them long before she'd set eyes on them, and if that wasn't the mark of a woman who considered those babies to be hers, then there never would be, as far as Chelsea was concerned.

Drawing a deep breath as she struggled to get a grip on her own irritation, Chelsea forced herself to sit back, too.  "Let me ask you something," she finally said in the thick silence that had fallen.

Ben didn't look like he wanted to allow her to do any such thing, but in the end, he nodded once.  "All right," he agreed, sounding entirely wary of what was to come.

Chelsea glanced around again to make sure that Charity was still in the bathroom before turning her attention back to Ben once more.  "What is Charity to you?"

"I . . ." He looked confused by her question, which really made her want to lose what was left of her short temper.  She tamped it down with an admirable amount of disregard, all things considered.

"At the risk of pissing off Charity," she said, leveling a no-nonsense stare at him, "she likes you—a lot.  She always has.  If you like her, too, then great, but if you don't and this is all just some weird game to you?  If she's just convenient because she's 'there' or because you need her help with the girls?  If that's the case, then leave her alone, Ben, because if you don't?  If you don't, I promise you, there won't be a place on earth where you'll be safe from me."